Cerevance Kicks Off 2018 with Additional $10 Million of Infusions

February 21, 2018 06:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time

BOSTON--(EON: Enhanced Online News)--Cerevance, a drug discovery and development company focused on brain
diseases, today announced that it has received an additional equity
investment as well as a non-dilutive cash payment in the first six weeks
of 2018 totaling more than $10 million.

“Our platform even allows us to measure the expression of genes
and proteins that are expressed at very low levels, but that may still
be valuable therapeutic targets, giving us a significant edge over other
technologies.”

The Dementia Discovery Fund, which previously invested in Cerevance in
May and November of 2017, increased its ownership position by fifty
percent, while Takeda Pharmaceuticals Company Limited made a payment to
the company triggered by Cerevance achieving a key milestone in
implementing its proprietary NETSseq target discovery platform. The
company has now brought in over $43 million in cash since its inception
in the end of 2016.

Cerevance’s scientists have begun to apply the company’s unique
molecular profiling capability to more than 3,000 human brain tissue
samples that it has assembled and used its extensive data pipeline to
analyze specific populations of neurons and glia across different
disease states and ages.

As it continues to aggressively scale its tissue access and discovery
operations, the company expects to reveal therapeutic targets
selectively expressed in brain cell types that are most vulnerable in
neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease and dementia, as
well as targets whose modulation may correct disrupted circuits in
disorders such as anxiety, depression, schizophrenia, Parkinson’s
disease, autism and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Cerevance is also
comparing glial cells across the brain that play a role in diseases
involving neuro-inflammation. The company plans to develop new
therapeutics against its targets using small-molecules, antibodies and
other modalities, independently as well as with partners.

“We’re seeing important differences between distinct cell types in the
human brain and between different individuals, including the changes
brought about by aging and disease,” commented Cerevance CEO Brad
Margus. “Our platform even allows us to measure the expression of genes
and proteins that are expressed at very low levels, but that may still
be valuable therapeutic targets, giving us a significant edge over other
technologies.”

About Cerevance

Cerevance is a clinical-stage, drug discovery and development company
focused on central nervous system diseases. The company’s strengths
include a powerful technology platform, a pipeline of novel
discovery-stage and clinical-stage compounds and a proven team. Its
mission is to deliver life-changing therapeutics for patients who have
brain-related disorders.